admin – Page 2 – Barron Bucket List

Being engaged was such a fun and exciting time! My heart goes out to all the beautiful brides out there that are going through their wedding season during covid. Trust me, I feel your pain experiencing my first pregnancy during this time. It’s totally not what I imagined. On the bright side though, if you are recently engaged, you can use this time to do all the planning and fun things before your big day! I’m sending lots of prayers that covid passes asap and if you’ve had to postpone, you will be able to celebrate very soon like you should!

One of my favorite parts of the wedding planning phase was asking my closest friends to be bridesmaids. If you are looking for ideas of how to ask your best girls to stand by your side on your wedding day, here is what I ordered and put together for my bridesmaid proposal boxes!

I ordered these cute boxes from Etsy, linked here. They have 11 different styles so it makes it easy to mix up the styles for each girl if you want a variety!

I also found these personalized champagne glasses from Etsy! I thought these were the perfect size and would be so fun for the girls to use at the bachelorette party and wedding for all the “cheersing”! I’ll link them here.

I ordered these personalized candles from Etsy as well. They come in an 8 oz mason jar so they fit perfectly in the boxes and they actually smelled really good too! You can find them here.

I threw in the delicious little candy cubes from Sugarfina to go in their glasses for the champagne! They also have multiple flavors so you can choose a variety and mix it up for everyone. Linking them from the Sugarfina website here. The lotion is from Charming Charlie. I can’t find a link for it from their website but it was something fun to add in extra for the girls. Lastly, of course I included a picture of us together!

For the girls that lived close by, I invited them to dinner at a fun champagne bar in Houston and I either mailed the boxes or met with the girls individually to give out the rest of them! I loved putting these together and hope it gives you some ideas of what to include. No matter what, your girls are going to be so happy for you and excited to be apart of your big day!

Cheers to you!

Maddie

30 Things I’ve Learned in My 30 Years of Life

Wow! It feels so strange to type out those words. Looking back on the past decade, it seems like time went by so fast, but it also feels like my early 20s were another lifetime. This is one of those major milestone birthdays that you sit and ask yourself, “Do I have it all together? Am I where I imagined I would be in life by this time? Am I checking all the boxes off?” Let me just tell you the answer to all of those questions for me is absolutely not! But I am so thankful for where I am today and I 100% believe that every experience I have in life, good and bad, serves a purpose to help me grow, challenge my perspectives, and will continue to shape the person I become. Hitting the third decade of life can actually be pretty great, here is a list of 30 things I have learned or advice that has stayed with me over the last 30 years:

1 – I am all about focusing on the journey and not the destination. Life is ever evolving and there will always be another goal to tackle, another milestone to achieve. Being present is much more rewarding than always thinking about “what’s next”.

2 – Being controversial isn’t always a bad thing. Having everyone like you isn’t always a good thing.

3 – If you want to do something, do it. I was so nervous about what people would think when I first started this blog. Would so and so judge me? Would they think I’m copying someone because they already have a blog? Would people even read it? Who the heck cares! I had to finally tell myself it doesn’t matter what those people think. There are a million blogs out there, we all got the idea from somewhere. The people you really want in your life and should be concerned about are the ones who are supportive of things that make you happy and want to see you succeed. My point is, if you want to pursue a hobby that you enjoy and love, DO IT. I’ve learned that when you set your mind on something with a passion, all the other noise drowns out.

4 – On that note, be a good friend! Be happy for those in your circle when you see them succeed and celebrate them.

5 – Time heals. That’s all that needs to be said here.

6 – There is nothing better than a good nights sleep. I have found that any time Matt and I have had an argument late at night, it’s almost always solved the next morning when we have a fresh and clear mind and he is ready to apologize. Just kidding! When we are both more willing to see the other side. Try not to let things escalate, sleep on it, and have important conversations when you’re both well rested.

7 – Work hard so you can play hard! But don’t work too much. Family first, always.

8 – Be thankful. I spend some time every night thinking of 3 good things that happened that day and really focusing on their impact. I know that not every single day is going to be great, but when you do this, it flips your perspective to make you think about what you learned from a tough situation or how much more you appreciate those good things when they are present.

9 – Spend money wisely. Invest. Invest in yourself, invest in your future, invest your time in the right relationships.

10 – This really should have been at the top of the list, but have faith. God truly does work in ways that we can’t and won’t always understand. I have leaned on God through soo many struggles in life. Even though I haven’t always found the answers, I’ve recognized that He has a plan and a path for me that would do me no good if I could see it. Again, it’s about the journey and we have to trust it.

11 – Learn to love your imperfections. In my 20s, I could look in a mirror and tell you a list of things I didn’t like about myself. But the truth is, most people don’t even see those things! Love the way God made you and shut off the negative thoughts in your head of what would make you “perfect”. He already made you perfect!

12 – “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”. This is always a good reminder. There is only a small portion in life that we cannot control. The rest is up to us!

13 – Age is just a number. I think at 23 or 24, I started to realize that I couldn’t tell how old anyone was and it really didn’t matter. It’s a good skill to be able to co-mingle with people at work (and in general) who are both younger and older than you. My husband, Matt, is a year younger than me and everyone would still ID me and not him (pre-pregnancy and pre-covid when we could go out like normal people and have drinks). I would laugh and say thank you! I have my momma’s youthful genes.

14 – I’ve heard that “your 20s are for enjoying yourself and your 30s are for learning lessons from your 20s”. Take some time to reflect every once in awhile. I think writing is therapeutic and can help you gather your thoughts and learn from the past.

15 – You will go through different seasons with different people. Some will stick around through it all and some you might grow apart from. That’s OK! Things don’t work out sometimes for a reason and you will navigate through life often times with people who are in the same phase as you.

16 – Put in the effort to maintain good relationships. It is a LOT more work after college to see and spend time with friends when we all go off and become more settled into our own lives in different cities. You can’t assume that everyone is going to take the same approach as you, but you can adjust your expectations. You will find your people, you just have to make room for them by not prioritizing people who are not prioritizing you.

17 – Most people are doing the best they can with what they have. You will never get time back that you waste making judgments about someone else.

18 – Love on Mommas. I have always thought highly of my parents but being pregnant, I have gained so much more respect for what my Mom went through to bring us into the world. Don’t judge or “mom shame” them for doing things different than you. Everyone is doing the best they can and that is enough.

19 – Speaking of family, you only get one! So treat them well. If you don’t have a great relationship with your immediate family, be very intentional about how you’d like to lead your own family some day and start new traditions with them. My family is the one constant I have had in all of my 30 years and they have helped shape and influence what I believe to be core values.

20 – Perfection is not real. Most of the things you see on social media are people sharing about their highlights. Good for them! I think they should be. Most people like to focus on the positive things that happen or what they are proud of. Just don’t let yourself think that someone’s Instagram feed is representative of their full life. We all have bad days. We all struggle a little every now and then and for some, it’s just plain hard to share and talk about the difficult things. Give yourself grace when you think someone has it all together and you don’t. That’s just not reality.

21 – Things won’t always go the way you plan. I will be honest, I am totally a planner. I am always planning the future. If we have a trip coming up, I probably have it planned out weeks in advance. I have to have some sort of idea of what to expect and then I can flex along the way, but going into most things I have to have a plan. Talk about a change of plans when you’re pregnant during covid! This experience has been totally different than what I ever expected my first pregnancy to be like. But that’s life. We have to be adaptable and learn how to transition quickly.

22 – “Comparison is the thief of joy.” How many times have you heard that? Probably a thousand. We all know it but it’s sometimes hard to actually live by. We’re all guilty of comparing ourselves to someone else and easily pointing out what we wish we had. But what good does that do? No two lives are the same and our individual uniqueness is what makes a person great. Focus on all the great things you DO have and what makes you, you!

23 – Get outside! With our generation becoming so technology crazed and spending so much time starting at a screen, we have to prioritize exercise and getting outside. I want to truly make an effort to continue to take walks or jog outside so that it will become habit for our kids. Growing up, it seemed like I was always outside with my brother either running at the track or playing some kind of sport. Now days, there are too many electronic devices to keep kids distracted at such a young age!

24 – Don’t wait for things to happen to you. No one can fight for your dreams and goals better than you can.

25 – The universe will always test you when it feels like the most inconvenient time. We are never going to be happy about the timing of bad news or difficult circumstances. Let yourself feel the emotions you do, and then look for the silver lining and try to learn something as you move forward.

26 – Learn from people who disagree with you. As a nation, I think we could do a better job of having conversations where we are actually open minded about hearing what the other person has to say. It’s so easy to have discussions with people who agree with everything you say, but how boring! We are all a product of our own life experiences and we could learn a thing or two from each other. I’ve learned that sometimes my opinions aren’t “right”, they’re just how I feel based on how I have lived and what I have seen. It is so important to be able to hear another perspective and try to understand why someone might think differently than you.

27 – You already have everything you need inside you. Remember that!

28 – Life goes on. Things can seem like such a big deal in the heat of a moment, but moments are fleeting. There will always be highs and lows. Focus on the highs, learn from the lows.

29 – True wealth is a life rich in experience.

30 – Try to live each day like it could be your last. Create experiences that will be worth looking back on and make you smile. At the end of the day, that is really what matters most and what will make your life feel full.

Thanks for reading! I hope you takeaway something good from my experiences and spend some time to think about your own. I’d love to hear about them!

Lots of love,

Maddie

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Matt and I bought our first home in February of 2019, right before we got married and right after I finished grad school and was starting a new job at the beginning of the year! Between studying for finals, planning a wedding, interviewing for jobs, and house hunting; it was a very exciting and busy time of our lives. We searched for about 2 months and probably toured about 20 houses before choosing the one! Yes, I said 20 haha. This was our first major purchase other than cars so it definitely took some serious time and thought when making a decision. Our struggle at first was deciding where exactly we wanted to buy. We started out touring homes in the Cypress area because we thought we might want to live in the suburbs. After thinking about where we spent most of our time, my job location being downtown, reviewing property taxes/the long-term value and investment knowing that this wouldn’t be our forever home, etc. we ultimately decided that buying in the Houston inner loop would make the most sense for us. We also have a very knowledgable family friend who is a realtor and knows her stuff, so if you need a recommendation for a good agent in the Houston area, give me a shout!

We originally looked mostly at traditional style homes, but when we started looking in town, we shifted towards looking more at townhomes that were free standing (so our walls wouldn’t be connected with someone else’s). That’s kind of the more common style home in town so this gave us a lot of options. We ended up with a mediterranean style home that is different than what I imagined us buying, but I immediately loved it! I remember walking in and telling Matt “I think this is it”.

We knew we didn’t want to buy a home that would require a lot of projects. I love seeing people’s before and afters of how they fix things up but we just knew we wouldn’t invest the time in that and wouldn’t even know where to start on home improvement projects. If we were to make one change though, I would swap out the carpet flooring in our bedroom to a wood or tile or something. With pets, I find carpet to be much more difficult to keep clean! Maybe that’s something we will do later on.

We completely changed the living room setup to allow for extra space. The curtains were custom made that the previous owners left and we planned to change them out once we moved in but they’ve actually grown on me. Plus, with it being an extra expense requiring a lot of effort in finding custom ones we like and the right color that would go in this room, we’ve put that way on the back burner! The coffee table is from Wayfair, you can find it here. I found the faux tree at a HomeGoods so I can’t link the exact one. I love when I find great deal there! You can’t see it in the photo but it came in a really pretty white planter. We LOVE the sectional from Gallery Furniture, I will link it here. This isn’t the exact rug we bought, but I found a very similar one on Amazon here!

I had these photos printed from our wedding and hung them in the little inserts in the staircase. They are sweet reminders of our favorite day!

We loved that the kitchen was completely open to the dining area and living room, so you aren’t closed off if you’re busy cookin’ up something in the kitchen! We found our dining room set from Rooms To Go! It is a 5 piece Cindy Crawford set linked here. All of the placemats and napkin table settings were gifted to us for our wedding from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and wine glasses from Crate & Barrel. It was so convenient getting married around the time we moved into a new house because we could register for a lot of home items! It helped so much in filling out the house quickly.

This is one guest bedroom that has now turned into our baby nursery room (a new post will be coming out on that later). The other guest bedroom, Matt’s brother lived in for the first year and a half. We’ve now moved this furniture to that room and rearranged a bit! I haven’t been able to find the exact bedroom set we got, but it’s very similar to this in the sleigh bed style. It was so funny because my parents recently built a home and purchased new furniture for their guest rooms. I ended up getting the exact same one my mom had picked out! I had completely forgot what they got and just happened to love the same one when we were looking at sets in store! We have similar taste on this type of stuff.

It was super easy to decorate this guest bathroom. I found the shower curtain and floor mat at Target and they weren’t actually placed together as a matching set. Luckily, I happened to find them both and thought they went well together!

This nook area connected to our master bedroom was such a great added feature to the house. It’s been the perfect spot for our dresser and Matt’s desk to use as an office space since he works from home. Now, after rearranging for the nursery and my brother in law moving out, we moved the desk down to the first floor and will use this space as a mini nursery for Baby Barron to put his bassinet and lullaby playard so we don’t have to go up and down the stairs all through the night!

I recently updated our master bedroom with new bedding! I’ve been loving the all white look and it just makes me feel so fresh and clean when going to bed. Makes sense why hotels use all white bedding. The furniture is the bedroom set my parents got for me back in college and I’ve kept it ever since, no reason to buy new when I love the one I have! Everything is linked on the LIKEtoknow.it app here, mostly all from Pottery Barn. Also, if you are in the market for a new mattress, I 1000% recommend the TEMPUR-breeze. I remember the first night we slept on it, I literally did not move the entire night. Best sleep ever. It has the cooling technology built into the materials that absorbs heat so you feel cooler when you fall asleep. Life changer!

Another huge selling point for this house was the spacious master bathroom! Matt is the biggest fan of taking baths haha, can’t blame him right? We love the jacuzzi tub and walk in shower and I think they’re actually easier to clean.

I was so obsessed with this egg chair from Target!! I chose the outdoor furniture for this balcony and Matt chose the outdoor furniture for the furniture on the top floor, which I love too! We use this space when it’s not crazy summer 100 degree weather, but it’s really nice in the other months to sit outside and read or hang out and drink coffee.

I love looking at homes and the different character and styles that go along with each one. It’s amazing how every house is so unique and made special with your own personal touch. I can scroll through home inspo photos online for hours, if you ever want to chat about home interior or decorating I’m your girl! Hope you enjoyed a little peek into our style and our experience in decorating our first home!

Cheers!

M+M

The one with the proposal!

Matt and I went on a trip to Switzerland to celebrate our 3 years dating anniversary and during the trip, he proposed in the most beautiful Winter Wonderland I’ve ever seen on the Matterhorn mountain in Zermatt! It was absolutely beautiful and a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.

We went to Lucerne first! We saw the beautiful little town and grabbed lunch at a pizza place then headed off for Zermatt. You have to hop on a ferry from Lucerne that is actually a car train (never rode on something like this before). It’s about a 15 minute ride from one side of the mountain to the other.

This was actually a very eventful day because while we were in Lucerne, all the locals there were telling us that there was an avalanche warning in Zermatt and that it may not be safe for us to continue our drive there. At that time, we were so disappointed because we had made plans around spending most of our time in Zermatt and really wanted to go skiing, see the town, etc but we were going to have the best time no matter what! We were in Switzerland after all. Everywhere you look is beautiful and mountainous. Luckily, when Matt called the hotel in Zermatt, the host reassured us that the roads were clear and open and they recently had an avalanche up on the mountain but all was good in the town and safe for us to go. Back in business! Maps will tell you Lucerne to Zermatt is a 3 hour drive but I would plan for 4 with the car train and the windiness of the roads once you get up in the mountains.

Zermatt is a car-free town so you have to park your car in Tasch where a train runs every 20 minutes to Zermatt. It’s only a 15 minute train ride, so no problem at all! There are little electric cars that come pick up you and your luggage from the train and take you to your hotel. It is seriously like a magical town you would only dream up in movies with the most beautiful views.

We stayed at Hotel Bellerive in Zermatt. Talk about a dream! This place was a chic little hideaway and our room had a balcony that opened up to an amazing view of the Matterhorn. (That’s the huge mountain you see in all of my photos). The people here were so friendly and accommodating. There was a wonderful breakfast every morning included with our stay and a wellness spa with a jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room. They also had massages for an additional cost but we didn’t feel the need with all the other free services available.

The night we arrived, we explored the town and went to dinner at an Italian restaurant that was wonderful but I can’t remember the name of. There are lots of great options all very close to each other.

We set off the morning after we arrived to attempt skiing the Swiss Alps! You rent your ski equipment and take the Gornergrat from Zermatt up to the mountain where they will drop you off by a restaurant you can hang out at and get settled before skiing down. I will tell you, this was the absolutely the hardest slopes we have ever seen! I consider myself an intermediate skier and Matt’s first time ever skiing was the trip we did before this in California! He is a more advanced snowboarder but tried skiing to switch it up and make it easier for us to stay together.

There are blue, red, black, and yellow runs. The blues there definitely do not equate to a green in the US! All routes are steep and very narrow lanes and I am happy to admit that we busted our butts many many times on our way down! We are so glad we did it though! Matt took one especially bad fall and he later told me that the ring was in a box in his pocket and he fell on the side the ring was in right on the box! Crushed the box into pieces and ended up with a massive colorful bruise on his thigh. It looked so painful but he has a good story to tell!

Once we finally made it down the alps, we took a lift back up to the Matterhorn to eat lunch and enjoy the view. After we ate, we walked outside on one side of the building and Matt grabbed my hands (he seemed shaky and nervous and I started thinking, are you okay? I had never seen him like this) but then said “no, come back inside” and he took us to another side where I guess he was noticing which had the best background. So thoughtful and sweet to put that much thought into choosing the perfect spot. Then he said ok wait here I’ll be right back. He went inside and came back out with our waiter who he handed his phone to and had asked to video us. He walked right back to me and got down on a knee with a little paper in his hand he read his proposal from. I don’t remember a word he said, I think I blacked out feeling so excited and my heart started beating fast. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening and in the most incredible place I had ever been. It was absolutely a dream come true.

I still have the paper he wrote his proposal on. All I remember is him asking, “Will you marry me?” me saying “YES!” and then being so excited you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face the rest of the day. And no, clearly I could not stop looking at that beautiful ring! What made this even more special was that we went to Switzerland to celebrate our 3 year anniversary and he proposed on that exact day, January 12, 2018.

Afterwards, we made it back down the mountain to the town, couldn’t wait to tell our family and friends and headed out to grab dinner and drinks to celebrate! We ate at the Grand Hotel Zermatterhof and then hit the town checking out a local club.

We had a great time in Zermatt and would definitely go back! Before heading home, we drove back to Zurich and spent a couple nights there. If Switzerland isn’t already on your list, I recommend adding it!